Always Closer
by amante3456
Summary: As they go into their second semester at Beacon, Team RWBY learns that what has passed is never truly gone, as things long thought dealt with come back to haunt. Evil is rising, and all of RWBY has played a part in helping it get to his point. Now they have to come together to stop it, before darkness consumes the world.


Hello all! This is my first chapter fanfic in a long time. I succeeded in finishing it before RWBY Volume 2 came out. The story follows the canon established by Volume 1, as well as my own extrapolation on certain areas. I don't own anything RWBY.

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Cold gusts of wind swept across the campus of Beacon Academy. Winter had settled in across Vale. While it never reached a temperature low enough to snow, the city did become considerably colder with the beginning of the season. Also with the beginning of the season, came a mid-year break from classes. The two weeks in between semesters gave students a chance to return home and visit family. The break would leave the campus with only a skeleton crew, and a scattering of students with little elsewhere to be.

For Blake Belladonna, the break came with apprehension and dread. Weeks before, her teammates were talking fervently about things they would do once they got home, back to their families. Her team leader and partner would laugh about childhood memories and speak excitedly about seeing their father. Ruby was particularly excited to show her uncle, and former mentor, the techniques she had learned from her time at the Academy. Weiss would speak with far less passion about her family, and more about simply returning home. She would regale her teammates with tales of the luxury of her house. To some, her words would seem conceited, but the other three parts of Team RWBY knew better. With such demanding schedules, the Schnee parents were often gone on business, which left the young heiress mostly alone, besides the staff that worked in the mansion, and free to roam the halls. Weiss took comfort in being home, the way someone might take comfort in a childhood blanket.

Blake had none of these warm feelings of home or family to look forward to. She had no home outside of Beacon, and no family outside of the teammates, who would all be gone for two weeks. During dinner, a few days before break would begin, Team RWBY and JNPR were discussing their plans for the coming recess. Blake tried to ignore the conversation by concentrating on the words in the book in front of her. Her blonde partner sat beside her, and Blake was unaware of her observations. Yang watched as the Faunus girl squinted her eyes with sharp focus. One hand held the book open before her, while another idly pushed around the food on her plate. The brawler had noticed an odd shift in Blake's behavior the past few days. Yang nudged the ribbon clad forearm of her partner, freeing her from the staring contest she was having with the text.

"You okay? You've been quiet all week, more so than you usually are." The blonde whispered her concern. She purposely made her volume too low for human ears, but it was just loud enough for Faunus ears to still catch her words, ensuring their conversation was private. In return, Blake held her thumb under the word "later" in her book, and tilted the page so Yang could read it. Blonde hair dipped once in a nod, and left the subject alone. None of the other students at the table had been aware of their interaction, and the meal continued as usual.

When both teams had finished their food, they returned to the dorms to finish any last minute assignments and pack for the break. Now that they were in the privacy of just their team, Yang continued the conversation from before.

"So what's going on Blake? What's been bothering you?" She asked as she lowered herself onto mattress of Blake's bed. The Faunus sighed as she sat next to her partner.

I'm just not excited for break, that's all." She explained simply. Ruby and Weiss had stalled their packing when two started talking. Weiss let out a short chuckle.

"I thought you would be elated to rid yourself of these two loud dolts for a couple weeks." The heiress swept a pointed finger from Ruby to Yang. Ruby scrunched her face into a pout, and Yang returned Weiss's accusing finger with a more crude hand gesture. A small smile crept onto Blake's face.

"I am looking forward to the dorm being quiet for once." She smirked, as Yang threw her hands up in mock disbelief. "But you all have homes and families to return to, and I... don't." Tense silence took over the room for a moment.

"Wait. Where did you live before coming to Beacon?" Ruby asked after a moment.

"Well the last home I had was with the White Fang. They gave me a place to live, but when I severed ties with them, they took that away. I was able to break in a get most of my things back, but I still had nowhere to go. I had a little money, so I slept in a motel for a while. When that got too expensive, I just slept where ever I could. Most nights, I would sleep on the street or a park bench. Sometimes, people would take pity on me and let me sleep in their shops, or even their couch. I had already started wearing my bow, at that point, so I looked completely human. I know I would have received a lot less charity if I was simply a homeless Faunus, versus a teenaged human girl." Blake sighed sadly.

She recalled one particular night where a young couple let her sleep in their coffee shop, only to chase her out and threaten to call the police when they found her with unbound ears the next morning. Weiss shifted her gaze so she didn't meet Blake's eyes. It had only been six weeks since their argument that led to Team RWBY discovering Blake's true identity. Since then, Weiss has been actively trying to have an open mind. It was hard to break a lifetime of prejudice, but her teammate was being extraordinarily patient with her.

"The White Fang housed you? Where was your family?" The fencer questioned without malice, but genuine curiosity.

"My family was killed when I was a child. Humans had set fire to the Faunus housing unit we lived it. Someone managed to get me out, but my parents…weren't as lucky." Amber eyes flashed with sadness, "The old leader of the White Fang took me in and gave me a place to live. I usually stayed with different Faunus families. It was nice, actually. The White Fang was the closest thing I had to a family."

Blake paused to look at her teammates, lingering on Weiss. The heiress had a sad look on her face, whether it was pity, or a realization that the White Fang was not always the monsters she had been led to believe, was unclear.

"About five years ago, our leader stepped down in private, and a new leader took over. The change was done in secret, and was subtle at first. It started off by inciting violence at peaceful protests. Mobs were formed, riots would start. Some buildings that refused to serve Faunus would be attacked, or set ablaze. The White Fang would always make it seem like the humans started everything. With the belief that I was defending my people, I started training. I build Gambol Shroud, and the White Fang made adjustments to my design. They made every part of it capable of attacking, even the sheath. Still, I was under the illusion that what I was doing was for defense." Blake sighed heavily.

When she had argued with Weiss outside that Dust store in Vale just over a month ago, she had told her that the White Fang was misguided. While her statement may not be true of all Faunus in the organization, it was certainly true of her while she was a part of them. She had let herself believe, for so long, that the White Fang were victims, fighting against the oppressing humans.

"I wasn't the only one they trained. There were a few operatives like me. The White Fang started sending us to protests. I thought we were just there to defend, to intimidate the humans and prevent attacks. I had no idea until after I left that the other operatives had other orders. They incited riots and fights, even firebombed stores. They let me believe that it was the humans who started it." The ninja's words were growled through gritted teeth. She hated how she had been deceived, how the White Fang lied to her and made her believe her actions were justified.

"Every mission I had, was given in the disguise of it being a last resort; the actions of a people beaten into a corner. It wasn't until we started stealing Dust, until my partner and I attacked a train in Forever Fall." Weiss perked her head up in recognition, jaw falling open.

"We were supposed to secure the Dust, but my partner had orders to set explosive charges. It would have destroyed the train and killed everyone aboard. When I asked him about the innocent humans, he showed no concern. I had known him since my parents died, but the man that stood in front of me in that moment was unrecognizable. That's when I realized that what we were doing was wrong. That the White Fang was wrong. When we were attacked by security drones, I took his charges and cut the cables connecting the train cars. Our cars separated and I never went back."

"You saved twenty-three lives that day." Weiss announced, suddenly beside Blake with a gentle hand on her shoulder. "That's how many crew members were on that train. I know it must have taken great courage and pain to leave the White Fang, but your actions saved the lives of those men and women."

"I hope it balances out with how many lives I help take, by not being able to walk away before then." Blake spat, voice filled with dismay and anger.

"You've killed?" Ruby squeaked from Weiss's bed; where she had sat down to listen.

"No! Not by my hands, at least. I'm sure I indirectly aided the others, though."

"You can't blame yourself for those deaths." Weiss snapped sharply, "The White Fang is responsible for those people."

"I just... I wish I could have done more. I thought that I was helping make a positive change for the Faunus, but all I managed to do was make us more feared and hated." Blake resigned, slumping down and shrinking into herself. The hand at her shoulder squeezed hard, pulling the Faunus back up straight and facing Weiss's ice blue eyes.

"That's not true! You helped me see that not all Faunus are criminals or savages. I know there are Faunus like you, who are good, kind-hearted people. The White Fang are still committing violent and terrorist acts, but I understand the desperation was put there by people like my family. I don't agree with it, and I believe we both know they are not achieving equality through their actions." Weiss paused long enough for Blake to give a small nod of agreement,

"Someday, I will inherit the Schnee Dust Company, and I will work to improve the relations with Faunus. What you have done so far, may be small, but you've definitely done good, Blake. We still have our whole lives to change the world."

Blake felt her lower lip shake from Weiss's words. Hesitantly, she wrapped her arms around the heiress and pulled her into a hug. When Weiss did not retreat, Blake held her close and whispered soft gratitudes. The fencer stiffly returned the hug, uncomfortable and frankly, still unfamiliar, with physical closeness. From the other side of the room, the black and white themed girls heard two loud "awwwww"s, then two more sets of arms wrap around them. The sisters had joined the hug with enough force to topple the four of them into a pile on Blake's mattress. Laughing, the girls untangled themselves. Weiss pressed down the wrinkles in her dress and straightened her posture.

"Way to ruin the moment, you dolts." Her tone was sharp, but her teammates had started to recognize the underlying affection in her insults.

"So Blake, where are you going to stay during break?" Ruby asked as she pulled herself from Yang's lingering grasp.

"Here. I had already talked to Ozpin and he said that there are many students who stay here over break." The Faunus shrugged.

"Unacceptable." Yang declared firmly. "Come home with us! Dad won't mind." Blake's eyes widened in surprise at the offer.

"Yang, that's kind, but I can't accept."

"Sure you can!" The blonde reassured, but the Faunus still looked uncomfortable by the generosity. Blake would feel like she was intruding and a burden if she went home with the sisters. Weiss looked on with sympathy. Ruby and Yang had a habit of being ruthlessly kind, and the heiress understood the trepidation of accepting such generosity.

"Well," Weiss interrupted, hoping to cut the tension, "How about we come back early? That way, we spend some time at home, you get some quiet time, and then we will all come back and be together for the rest of break."

"I couldn't ask you to cut short the time you have with your families like that." Blake dismissed with a shake of her hand. Weiss snorted,

"Please, I don't think I could stand to be home for more than a week anyways." She reasoned with a snarky tone. Yang wrapped an arm around her partner.

"Besides, you are a part of our family now. It's only right that we spend some of our break together." Ruby nodded in agreement.

"It's settled then. We'll all come back after a week and have a Team RWBY family vacation!" The young leader declared, pumping her fist into the air. Yang leapt of the bed to mimic her younger sibling, and even Weiss half-hearted waved her arm with a roll of her eyes at the sisters' antics. Blake laughed softly at the girls and let the warmth in her chest wash over her. After a lifetime of running and searching, she finally had a place, and a family, where she truly felt she belonged.

Blake underestimated how long a week truly was. The four girls had decided that they would spend a week apart and then return to Beacon for the second week of recess and spent it together. Blake had spent a full year alone, constantly moving and hiding from the White Fang. Before that, the White Fang had her going on missions or attending protests for years. Any time off was spent training. Since she had enrolled at Beacon, classes, field trips, and sparring practice had kept her busy. A week should have been easy, should have been relaxing.

It was seven days without Weiss harping on the team to study more, or train more. One hundred and sixty-eight hours without Ruby crunching on cookies or squealing as she used her semblance to dash around the halls. Ten thousand and eighty minutes without Yang's booming voice, lame puns, or stiflingly warm physical presence.

It was hell.

Blake quickly realized how integrated Team RWBY had become into her life. She had trouble sleeping without Yang's light snoring, and even more trouble waking up without the cup of coffee Weiss would silently slide to her every morning. The silence was overbearing without Ruby's quick chatter. Without the other three girls, the room felt huge and empty, like it would swallow Blake into the void.

The first day of break, Blake had finished the few books she had been looking forward to reading. By the second day, she had taken to reading and talking aloud, just to break the weight of silence that was pushing down on her. By day three, Blake had reread nearly every book in her personal library and had roamed around the Beacon Campus. It took her only a few hours to discover all the hidden areas, blind spots to the security cameras placed around the school. The ninja decided that this information would be of value to Yang at some point, and that she could hold it for leverage, if she ever needed it.

On the fourth day, Blake's Faunus ears perked up as she tried to focus on a book. The sound seemed like high-heeled boots on carpet, in a familiar rhythm. Blake took this as a sign of her failing sanity, and flattened her ears, trying to ignore it. The sound cut through the silence and the ebony-haired girl was certain that this be what if feels like for a dehydrated person in the desert to see an oasis mirage. Even when the door to the RWBY dorm opened, Blake sighed as she accepted her cabin fever induced illusion.

It did strike her as odd that the hallucination produced Weiss entering the room. She was certain it would be Yang. White suitcases came thudding through the door, as the heiress struggled to maneuver three at once.

"Wait...Weiss? It's really you?" Blake shook her head, hoping to dissipate the possible trickery. Blue eyes snapped to amber ones and looked her up and down. Blake had never felt so warm in the presence of ice.

"Yes, it's me." Weiss bit down any further snark at the appearance of her teammate. Blake looked pale and disheveled, and her wide eyed gaze made her look slightly delirious, "Have you bothered to leave this room at all in four days? Tell me you at least ate?"

Blake paused to think, which was close enough to an answer for Weiss.

"Go shower, then we are going to get you food." She ordered sternly. Blake thought about protesting, but knew that there was no use trying to argue with the ice princess. With a roll of her eyes, the ninja retreated to the dorm's bathroom and shower.

Warm water rejuvenated Blake as the shower gently massaged her shoulders. It seemed odd how quickly Weiss had managed to snap the Faunus back to reality. She found it more concerning that she had a difficult time dealing with her loneliness. Perhaps, Blake was not as much of a solitary creature as she thought she was.

Exiting the shower stall, Blake toweled off her hair and ears with practiced diligence before drying the rest of her body and changing into her usual outfit. She reentered the dorm room, and found Weiss putting away her clothes from her suitcases. The heiress snapped her head in the direction of the door when she heard it open. Blake had not bother to put her bow on and her cat ears flicked forward when Weiss caught her gaze. Under the scrutiny of the heiress, Blake lowered her chin slightly, her ears drooping in response.

"I can put my bow on if they bother you." Amber eyes flicked up to watch Weiss, whose gaze was still on her Faunus ears. Weiss realized she had been staring and scolded herself.

"No," The fencer brought her eyes down to meet Blake's, "I'm just not used to seeing you without your bow. You still wear it all the time." The Faunus was still not known to all except for her team members. While Ruby and Yang had no issues accepting her, she knew the majority of humankind was more like the Schnee family. Weiss was still working towards acceptance, but even she was putting in far more effort than most would. The ninja knew it would just be easier to continue to bind her ears in her bow, but she had started to take it off while in the privacy of their dorm room.

"Besides," The heiress started again, her voice quieter, "Ruby was right. They are kind of cute." A smiled cracked across Blake's lips, and cat ears flattened against her damp hair. The expression only added to the fencer's sentiment. Weiss noted how the normally stoic girl seemed much more open, and wondered how much of her identity she was truly hiding behind that little black bow. She allowed herself on last quick glance before she remembered her plan for the day.

"Actually, you may want to put your bow back on." Ears drooped again, signaling Blake's disappointment. Weiss felt compelled to backtrack, "Not because of me! We are going into the city and I understand that you want keep them covered in public."

Blake relaxed at the explanation, realizing that her teammate was not rejecting her, but instead was looking out for her. While Weiss may not fully understand the Faunus side of things, she was one of the few people who could truly comprehend the amount of hate and prejudice humans were capable of.

"Why are we going into Vale?" The ninja asked as she expertly tied on her bow. She wiggled her ears once to ensure the binding was secure.

"For dinner. There is this seafood place by the docks that Father and Mother used to take me to all the time. I think you would like it." Weiss explained offhandedly.

"I don't think I have the money for that." Blake mumbled just loud enough for the fencer to hear. Someplace that was frequented by the Schnee family was surely out of the price range for a teenaged, ex-criminal, Faunus huntress in training.

"Then I suppose it is a good thing you are with an heiress."

The airship ride to Vale was kept with light conversation between both girls. When they landed, Weiss guided her teammate to the docks and led them to a building on the docks. The restaurant was situated on an outcrop of short cliffs, just at the water's edge. A deck off of the side held many outdoor eating areas that hung above the gentle waves. Inside, the restaurant was very nice, but not nearly as high class as Blake had imagined. Still it was fancier than any place she had gone before. In her casual clothes, she felt much underdressed. There were no patrons in suits and ties, but also none in jeans and tee shirts.

The heiress dropped her name with the maître d' and the two were seated next to floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the water. The two ordered their meals, and fell back into easy conversation.

Blake entertained Weiss with the misadventures of her temporary, isolation-induced insanity. The fencer laughed along, while agreeing that the information about camera blind spots would be of value.

"I hate to admit that I missed those two dolts, as well." Weiss admitted when Blake mentioned how difficult it was to sleep without the sisters. "The Schnee Manor never seemed so empty and quiet, until I met those two." The tone in her voice nagged at Blake.

"Why did you come back so early? The plan was for everyone to come back after a week." The ninja gently asked. Weiss stiffened a moment, but shifted in her seat to ease the tension.

"For that very reason. Father and Mother were called away on business and I was alone with the servants and manor staff." Nimble fingers fumbled with a fork as the heiress continued, "Nearly all of our staff is Faunus." Ice blue eyes looked into Blake's and found a sympathetic gaze.

"It never bothered me before. I've seen my father treat them all so horribly over the years, and it never bothered me. But now... I couldn't help but picture you as the staff. When Father yelled at a maid for making a simple mistake, I pictured it being you. Once my parents left, I could not stay any longer." Weiss finished with a deep sigh. The white-knuckled grip on her fork eased as Blake placed a comforting hand on it.

No more words were exchanged. The girls sat in comfortable silence until their food came.

"Weiss... Taking me to this restaurant. This isn't some way to sooth your guilt is it?" Blake prodded gently. Weiss looked down at the plates and then gave a horrified, wide-eyed gaze to the Faunus girl.

"No! I had not even considered that! I just wanted to spend time with you, and become better friends, better teammates."

"We could have done that at the cafeteria on campus, though."

"Yes, but honestly, you looked like you needed to get away from Beacon for a little bit. You looked a little..." Weiss trailed off, searching for the proper word.

"Crazy?"

"Well. Yes. A bit like you got into cat nip after we left." Weiss smiled slyly. Blake grimaced at the joke.

"I didn't know you were taking comedy lessons from Yang." The ninja shook her head in mock disappointment. "First you sympathize with the Faunus, now you are making bad jokes. What's next? An obsession with cookies?"

"Chocolate chip is not that bad, actually."

"What have you done with Weiss Schnee? Maybe you have seen her? White hair, scar on her left eye, about this high..." Blake held her hand about a meter off the floor. Weiss responded with a noise of outrage. "Yes, she sounds just like that!"

The two dissolved into fits of giggles. They allowed themselves a moment of carefree bliss, something that had been absent from both of their childhoods. They finished their dinners and continued their comfortable conversation all the way back to Beacon. When they returned to their dorm, they readied themselves for bed. While Weiss was a quiet sleeper, the steady rhythm of her breathing was enough to lull Blake into a sound slumber.

The next morning, Blake woke to the smell of coffee. Weiss had risen before and had retrieved two mugs for them, placing one next to her sleeping teammate. They both had showered and dressed, and were now lounging on their beds, simply enjoying each other's company. A sound caught Blake's ears, and they perked up, pointed towards the door. Weiss had noticed the change, but could not hear or see anything different.

"What?" Weiss asked, still looking at the door.

"Ruby and Yang are back." Blake informed with a hushed voice. The fencer lowered her own voice to match.

"How do you-" Weiss was cut off by a loud thump in the hallway. The sound was followed by a round of giggles and whispered shushing.

"Pray to whatever gods you believe in, that we never have to rely on those two for stealth." Weiss muttered, just loud enough for Blake to hear. The Faunus hummed in agreement. Footsteps reached just outside the room before the door slammed open from the force of a kick.

"Blakey! We're home!" Yang singsong-ed as she stood proudly in the doorway with hands on her hips. In the space between them, the two could see Ruby peeking through. She squeezed past Yang and her face lit up when she saw the white-themed girl in her bed.

"Weiss! You're back too!" She exclaimed, bouncing towards her partner. Yang rolled her eyes and turned to pull in their luggage.

"Well, there goes the surprise of us coming back early. Way to steal our thunder, princess." The blonde grumbled.

"Stole your thunder? You ruined your surprise well enough on your own when you came trampling down the hallway." Weiss barked at the brawler. Yang shot a cold glare over at Ruby, who shrugged sheepishly, suggesting her as the source of the loud thump.

"Anyways..." Ruby proclaimed loudly, "Weiss, why are you back early?"

"My parents were called away on business and I did not feel like being home alone." The fencer explained curtly, "I got back yesterday."

"This actually works out perfectly." Yang directed her comment to Ruby, who nodded rapidly. Yang moved into the room and stood next to the bunk beds.

"Yes! Alright, Weiss! You and I are going to go to the cafeteria and get as many snacks as we can. Yang...?" Ruby pointed at her sister, who gave her a thumbs up. The blonde reached up to her bed and pulled down the mattress onto the floor in between the bunks. Blake, who was still seated on the bottom bunk, hopped back in surprise.

"What are you doing?" She exclaimed.

"Making things comfy." Yang answered, as if this was an everyday occurrence.

"What are you two planning?" Weiss snapped and turned on Ruby, who immediately lost some of the color in her face.

"We're going to have a sleepover!" The redhead shouted and grabbed Weiss by the wrist, "Come on."

"Do not touch my bed, Yang!" The heiress managed to shout before she was dragged out of the room. The blonde just chuckled as she pulled down Ruby's mattress onto the floor, and started organizing blankets and pillows so the three edges blocked by the bunk beds and the wall were cushioned. Blake just watched her partner with amused confusion. The sisters had been back for no more than twenty minutes. In that short time, they had managed to storm in and destroy the comfortable silence, and the organized state of the room. The Faunus girl had to mentally remind herself that she missed these two, though she was starting to question why.

It only took a few minutes for Ruby and Weiss to return with armloads of snack. There were ample amounts of sweets, pastries, chips, and popcorn, obviously picked out by Ruby. It seemed as if Weiss was able to find some fruit as well, and sneak them under the leader's sugar radar.

"Operation Snack Attack complete!" Ruby announced as she dumped all the food onto her desk at the side of the room.

"So... Can someone explain why we are having a sleepover when we have shared this dorm all semester? We sleep over every night." Blake asked, looking for some sort of explanation for the sisters' behavior.

"It was Ruby's idea actually. On our second night home, we stayed up watching bad movies, and we were saying how much we wished our partners were there. Then we realized that you two probably never had sleepovers. Weiss, I can't imagine your parents would let you have a bunch of friends stay the night, unless they were snotty rich kids that your dad was trying to schmooze. And Blake, we kind of just assumed that being an orphan and with the White Fang, you did not get a lot of time to socialize with other kids." Yang reasoned with a look of sympathy. Blake and Weiss remained quiet.

The blonde had been accurate in her assumptions. Unless the Schnee Dust Corporation could benefit from it in some way, Weiss did not have many relationships with other children. Blake did spend time with other Faunus children, but it was to beg for food or money, never such frivolous, childish things.

"So," Ruby continued, "We thought we should have a sleepover together. And not just sleeping in the same room, but watching movies, eating snacks, playing games..."

"...Painting our nails, trying on clothes, and talking about cute boys?" Weiss interjected, repeating a statement she used at the beginning of the year. This time the comment came without any malice. Ruby smiled softly at her partner,

"Sure, but mostly I just want us to have fun together. We are on vacation after all." Weiss nodded at this sentiment and moved over to her bed. She took her pillows and blankets off and added them to the nest Yang was creating. Understanding this as acceptance of the plan, Blake followed suit.

"So, how are we going to watch movies without a TV?" Blake commented, looking pointedly around the room. Yang laughed and flash a wide smile, which the Faunus was learning usually meant trouble. The blonde darted out of the room, only to return a few minutes later with a television set in her arms.

"Where did you get that from?" Weiss asked, as the brawler struggled slightly, trying to fit the TV through the door.

"The common room."

"You stole it?!" Weiss screeched as Yang tried to wave her off, the television still in her grasp.

"Nah, just borrowed it.

"Yang..." Blake warned.

"Calm down. There is no one else in this dorm block but us. I will return the TV first thing in the morning. No one is going to miss it." Weiss seemed to consider this for a moment, and decided it was sound reasoning, but still let her disapproval be known.

"Fine, but if it gets broken by your brutish fumbling, I will not help you replace it."

"Look Weiss, it's not going to get bro-" Yang's voice cut as the television slipped from her fingers and plummeted to the ground. Gasps filled the room, just as the blonde regained her grip on the screen, mere centimeters before it would have crashed into the floor. Weiss fumed as Yang flashed a wide, smug grin that let the others know she had dropped it intentionally. She placed the TV on a desk opposite of the mattresses on the floor, so it could be easily viewed from the beds. Ruby went into one of her bags and pulled out a small collection of movies, choosing one without really caring what it was. Snacks were handed around and the girls settled into the nest of pillows and blankets.

The first couple of movies went by easily. Team RWBY laughed at the lame plot, and poorly written characters. When an action movie was put in, they critiqued the fight sequences pointing out the unrealistic parts ("There is no way that man could punch someone through two walls." "What do you mean, Weiss? I've done it before." "Well Yang, that's because you are a monstrous oaf,") and remarking on how the scenes could be improved. ("This would be much cooler with dragons." "Ruby, this movie is set in the future, in space." "Yeah, but dragons make _everything_ better.")

The movie that was on now was a cheesy romantic comedy. The girls spent half the movie rolling their eyes at the pathetic lead female. Ruby had lost interest quickly, and was starting to actually vibrate with desire to do something else.

"Let's play a game!" She finally burst out. Weiss gave her a skeptical look,

"Alright, what game?" Ruby paused for a minute to think of a classic sleepover game.

"Truth or Dare?" She suggested.

"I don't think that will work with just the four of us Rubes. Weiss is going to shoot down any dare we give her." Yang ignored the icy glare from the fencer.

"So how about Truth or Truth?" Ruby amended, and began to reason with her team when they gave her hesitant looks, "We are going to be teammates for at least four years. I think we need to really get to know each other and be open about ourselves. The last time we learned a big secret, it almost tore us apart." Weiss and Blake quickly averted their eyes and quietly agreed to the game.

"Sounds good, sis. You ask the first question." Yang offered.

"Alright... Weiss!" Ruby turned to her partner excitedly. "How did you get your scar?"

Weiss looked as if she froze over for a moment. She had never told anyone the story of how she acquired the scar over her left eye, and the only people who knew were the ones present to see it happen. She thought about snapping at Ruby, forcing her to ask a different question, but the leader had a point. The team needed to be open and honest with each other, and she was trying to be the best teammate, after all.

"I got it from a sabotaged training droid. My father does not approve of my desire to become a Huntress, he never has. I had to fight tooth and nail to get fencing lessons, and getting my design of Myrtlenaster made was an even more difficult fight. Father made a deal with me. If I could defeat the droid then I could enroll at Beacon. If not, then I would have to apply to a business school and prepare for taking over the company. Father purposely had the droid set to its highest difficulty. We later found out that someone from the White Fang had infiltrated our mechanics, and took off all the safety protocols. The goal was to assassinate me and make it look like a training accident." Weiss stole a quick glance at Blake, who had steeled her own stoic expression.

"When the fight began, I was surprised by how aggressive the droid was being. I let my guard down because I assumed the protocols would keep it from actually hurting me. That assumption nearly cost me my dream, and half of my vision. I was able to defeat the droid, but Father was going to go back on his deal and still not let me come to Beacon, because my victory had not been flawless. It was only when we found out that the droid was an attempt on my life, that Father allowed me to come so I would be able to defend myself better next time." Weiss concluded, and then looked upon the faces of her teammates. Most had expressions of sympathy, Yang's mouth was hung open in shock.

"Wow, Weiss. I'm sorry that happened." Ruby consoled gently.

"Yeah. No offense, but your dad kind of sounds like a dick." Yang blurted out. The comment was so blunt and sudden that it caused Weiss to laugh. No one had ever dared to insult her father to her face. The heiress ventured to guess that Yang would have made the same comment, even if Mr. Schnee was present. Shaking off the laughter, Weiss continued,

"Okay, next question. Blake," The ninja looked surprised that Weiss was addressing her, "I'm genuinely curious, what sort of abilities or tendencies do you get from your Faunus heritage?"

"Oh. Well, you know about night vision and you have probably already noticed I have enhanced hearing, but I also have a better sense of smell than most humans do. Most Faunus have those things. Being a cat Faunus specifically, I also have a preference for fish. I can also... purr." Blake admitted, with ears flat against her head. Ruby squealed in delight at this.

"That is adorable! Can you do it now?"

"No, I can't do it on command. It's more like a body response. I can suppress it, but I can't make it happen." Ruby visibly deflated, but still smiled at Blake.

"That's pretty much it. Some Faunus are different, but other than that, we are the same as humans." The ebony-haired girl smiled at her friends. They hadn't insulted her, or called her weird or a freak for her Faunus traits. They accepted her and it left Blake with a warm feeling settling in her chest. "So my question is for Yang. You flirt and talk a big game all the time, but how many people have you really dated?"

"Uhh... I haven't really dated much." Yang rubbed awkwardly at the back of her neck.

"Ha! I knew you were all talk." Weiss threw a pillow at the blonde.

"Easy there princess, I say I haven't dated much because my relationships usually only lasted the night." Yang waggled her eyebrows suggestively, causing the heiress to pretend to blanch.

"And how many people did you have...A night with?"

"You mean had sex with?" She laughed at how awkwardly Weiss had phrased her question. The fencer growled at Yang's blunt response, but nodded her head.

"Depends on your definition of sex. I think of it as anything of a sexual nature where two people get off or get pleasure from...and I wasn't keeping score but probably somewhere in the thirties." A blush had started to creep on Ruby's cheeks and ears. Weiss looked dumbfounded.

"You're seventeen!" She balked. Yang just shrugged.

"Well, I started when I was fourteen. So that's like a ten per year average...Sounds about right, to me."

"You've slept with that many guys?" The heiress still sounded disbelieving of her teammate.

"First of all, not all of it was sex like..." Yang circled her finger and thumb with one hand and moved her other pointer in a thrusting motion, causing Ruby's blush to descend down to her neck. "There is more than one way to get off. Secondly, who said anything about guys? Yeah, I was with some guys, but some were ladies. Some preferred other pronouns."

This had effectively silenced Weiss, as she digested this new information. Blake crooked her head sideways with curiosity, one ear perked up.

"Were you ever with any Faunus?"

"A few, actually. But I found that a lot of Faunus are skeptical about a human hitting on them. They probably thought it was a trick, or that I'm some sort of fetishist. But hey," Yang shrugged one shoulder, "Hot is hot, doesn't matter to me what a person is. It's who they are that's important."

"Were people ever disrespectful to you?" Weiss asked in a smaller voice than before. The heiress had come from a home where sex was a shameful thing. While she knew better, there were still a lot of people who held similar judgments.

"Are you kidding?" Ruby interjected. "No one dared talked down about Yang. Everyone loved her. Plus, in addition to being the top stud of Signal," Yang winked at this. "She was also the top ranked combat fighter in the school."

"Followed closely by my baby sis!" Yang pulled Ruby under her arm in a side-hug.

"You two were the top fighters of your school?" Weiss questioned, her incredulous tone had returned.

"Yup. There wasn't anyone we couldn't beat. In fact, Ruby was only ranked second because she could never beat me." The blonde patted her sister's head, ruffling her hair. Ruby struggled against Yang's grasp and squirmed to break free.

It was no shock that the sisters were top ranked fighters. Ruby had shown there was a reason why she was advanced two years, and Yang was, well, Yang. It had been surprising that Ruby was not able to beat her older sister. The two were almost opposite in fighting styles. Ruby preferred to keep some distance, using her sniper rifle when she could. When she had to come in for close combat, she would use her speed and weapon range to keep her opponent at bay.

Yang, on the other hand, is in your face. She moves in close and dominates with barrages of punches and kicks. In a fight, the two would balance fairly evenly. Ruby would have the advantage at long distance, but if Yang could get in close, she would out-manuever the scythe-wielder. Yang had the addition benefit of knowing Ruby. She had raised her younger sister, and taught her how to fight before their Uncle Qrow did. Yang had knowledge over Ruby, and that knowledge was quite literally translated to power.

Finally breaking from Yang's hold, Ruby sneered at her sister.

"New question! And I don't want to hear about my sister's sex life anymore, please!"

"Fine. Why do you and Yang have different last names?" Weiss queried with a roll of her eyes. Yang shot a concerned glance to her sister, who started to explain,

"When Mom and Dad got married, she kept her last name. Dad always said she was fiercely independent and 'her own woman.'" Ruby softly chuckled, and her partner noted how it lacked the usual spirit. "They decided that the first born would get Dad's last name, and their next child would get Mom's. So that gives you Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose." Ruby gestured with wide arms, as if she was presenting herself and her sister.

"It actually worked out really nicely, because I take after Dad, and Ruby is so similar to Mom." Yang added, placing a gentle hand on her sister's shoulder.

"You've never talked about your mom before." Blake noted with a gentle voice. The sisters would often talk avidly about their father, and even their Uncle Qrow, but had never before even mentioned their mother. Yang rubbed the hand that still rested on Ruby's shoulder, her lilac eyes shining with concern. The redhead pulled her cloak tight around her shoulders. The motion made her appear so much smaller, making her younger age seem far more apparent.

"She died when I was eight. Yang was ten." Ruby spoke slowly, concentrating to keep her voice steady. Weiss held up a hand,

"Ruby, you don't have to talk about this." Ruby swallowed hard, but shook her head.

"No, you and Blake have both shared things from your past, which were difficult for you. I want to share this with you. It's just… hard." Ruby gripped her cloak until knuckles went white, then she continued,

"She was a police detective for Vale; both of our parents were. Dad still is. On the force is where they met actually. Mom specialized in Missing Persons cases, finding those who were lost. She had gotten a tip about a case she was working on and went out to Snowy Forest to investigate. Her and her partner were lured to a Beowolf den and…" Ruby's voice caught and made a strangled whine. Yang took a hold of her sister's shoulders and dragged her into her lap, wrapping strong arms around the scythe-wielder. Ruby turned into her sister and accepted the comfort. The blonde placed a gentle kiss on top of the leader's head and then continued to speak for Ruby,

"A den of Beowolves would be no issue for a Huntress, but Mom was just a cop, and only had a pistol to protect her. Still, she stood strong and sacrificed herself to hold back the pack long enough, so her partner could escape. We didn't find out until later that it was a trap. Mom had been coming close to finding someone that some powerful crime lord wanted to disappear. Some mercenary chick with Huntress training was hired to take her out and make it look like an accident." Yang's voice had stayed surprisingly level, while her neutral expression was set in stone.

"Was that woman ever caught?" Weiss questioned. The inquiry caused Ruby to lean back from Yang's hold to peek up at her. Yang had stiffened, and tried to awkwardly laugh off the tension.

"Yeah, actually, she was. About a year ago, after I spent sixteen months hunting her." The brawler's voice was unnaturally harsh. All the carefree laughter and bubbliness was gone, replaced with cold steel and trained stoniness. Blake's amber eyes flashed with surprise,

"You did what?"

"I hunted her. About a year after I started at Signal, just after I made Ember Celica, I started bounty hunting to test my skills and training. Dad did not approve of it, or course, but we needed the extra money. He would give me tips on low level criminals with bounties. Our Uncle Qrow, who is a retired Hunter, still has a lot of contacts, and he would set me up with targets too.

"A little more than two years ago, reports of that mercenary started surfacing, so I followed them. It took me sixteen months. Sixteen months of beating down crooks, busting jaws, and interrogating. I even destroyed a club once." Yang let a small smile break her stony expression, much to the skeptical looks of her teammates. "It's a good story. I'll tell it some other time. Anyways, after all the time of chasing this woman down, she figured out that I was after her. She knew who I was, and she let me find her. She thought she had me figured out, but she made the mistake of thinking I was after her out of vengeance, that all I wanted to do was kill her.

"You didn't?" Weiss raised an eyebrow. Considering the brawler was a hot-head with a literal fiery temper, it was not farfetched to assume Yang would hunt down the woman who orchestrated her mother's death to avenge her.

"No… At first, yes, I did want to kill her. But, again, it took me sixteen months to find her. In that time, I realized that Mom wouldn't have wanted me to do that. She was a firm believer in justice, but not at the cost of taking lives. She wouldn't have wanted me to become the very thing I was hunting. Plus, I knew if I fought the mercenary, I would lose. I mean, I'm an excellent fighter, but I hadn't even graduated from Signal yet, and this woman was a Huntress trained murderer. So I texted Dad with my location, behind my back. Told him to bring the cavalry. After that, I just tried to keep her talking, which didn't last very long. When she attacked, it took everything I had just to stay alive. I was able to hold her off until the police got there, backed by Qrow and other Hunters. They captured her and she's been in maximum security ever since, where she will be for the rest of her life."

Ruby hugged her sister one last time, before sliding back to her space on the mattresses. Her eyes were red from holding back tears, but she had calmed. Blake placed a reassuring hand on Yang's knee and no one spoke for a long time.

"So…What other games do you play during sleepovers?" Weiss broke the silence, smiling at Ruby, who perked up instantly.

The air around the team seemed lighter after this. Ruby and Yang explained the many games that were commonly played during childhood slumber parties, most of which the heiress refused to believe were real and not some prank the sisters were trying to pull. Ruby blamed her disbelief as the reason why "Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board," did not work. The party trick dissolved into Yang bench-pressing a squirming Weiss, as their partners rolled on the floor in laughter. Never Have I Ever was going smoother, until Ruby had to keep sneaking down fingers whenever Yang was not looking, to avoid being caught having done something she ought not have. The blonde, on the other hand, lost every single round. Ruby introduced Blake and Weiss to M.A.S.H., which, to Weiss's misfortune, predicted her living in a shack, married to Jaune, with 5 children, and living her 'dream career' as Ruby's babysitter. Blake blushed furiously when she was foretold to be married to Yang, who promptly ruined the moment by mentioning their "whole litter of kids." Afterwards, the girls took advantage of being the only ones in the dorm hall, finishing their night with a dance party, music vibrating the walls.

Having exhausted themselves, the girls landed in a heap on the mattresses. Yang shifted herself up on pillows, so she could look down at her teammates. Ruby had easily passed out, as had Weiss. The heiress had curled herself to Yang's right; her head nestled into the brawler's side. Ruby was just behind Weiss, an arm tossed around the fencer's waist. Blake, to the left, twisted her body so her head lay in Yang's lap, her Faunus ears twitching periodically. The blonde smiled warmly upon her teammates, her family. As she joined the others in slumber, she swore she could hear, and feel, the faint rumble of purring against her side.

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Please review if you liked it! -amante3456


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